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Josh Kingston
Joshua Everett "Josh" Kingston (born 13 September 1997) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, voice actor, podcast host, and author who has been signed with Banana Music Group since 2011. His debut album Symphony was released on 9 November 2011, followed by his second album In January, which was released on 20 April 2012. His third album Up in Flames will be released on 28 June 2013. Life and music projects 'Early life' Kingston was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to parents Jacob and Anna Kingston. He has five brothers (Kyle, 2; Alex, 14; Zachory, 16; Weston, 21; and Everett; 25), along with three sisters (Julia, his twin; Alice, 22; and Melanie; 24). Before entering his singing hobby, he participated in several swimming, soccer, and basketball teams. He also participated in several independent plays, musicals, and short films. In January 2008, at the age of 10, he moved with his family to the Kensington Market area of Toronto, Ontario. Following his father's loss of a job, his family relocated to Brooklyn, New York City in September 2009. Around this time, he began playing piano and singing. '2011: ''Symphony Following encouragement from friends and family, Kingston posted a video of himself singing "Sink or Swim" by Tyrone Wells onto his YouTube account in January 2011. Over the next few months, Kingston met with several independent New York-based record labels, however these labels ultimately declined to sign Kingston due to his young age. In May, a local counterpart of Bysa Records offered to fly Kingston to Arizona to meet with producers and other label executives, however Bysa withdrew from this agreement the following month, again citing his age as a negative factor. Kingston continued to record covers throughout June, when he came across several online record labels that mostly handled cover artists. Looking for a label that would professionally and realistically release his covers, he came across Banana Recordz. He submitted his "Sink or Swim" cover video to the label, and he was signed with them on 4 July. He immediately began recording the album in Guardings Studio, an independent studio located a few blocks away from his home. Already having several recorded covers, and looking to quickly release his covers, Kingston's debut single "Bend or Break" was released on 20 July. The song was independently written and produced by Kingston, who drew inspiration from "Sink or Swim" for the song. "Bend or Break" would ultimately go on to be nominated for Best Original Song in the 2012 SMA Music Awards. Following the release of this single, he released "To Build A Home" as his second single in August. In September, he collaborated with fellow Banana Recordz artist Carly on the single "Love You Like A Love Song", which was nominated for Best Collaboration in the 2012 SMA Music Awards. His fourth single "Marchin' On" was released in October as the final single from his first album. Symphony, his debut album, was released on 9 November. The album contained 7 songs, and its release had been delayed by about two weeks. Upon release, Symphony received mixed reviews, and its financial success was lukewarm. Despite this, Banana Recordz considered Kingston to have further potential, and his contract with the label was renewed in December. On 11 November, the Top 5 audio podcast Banana Recordz Countdown premiered with Kingston serving as its host, however the podcast was immediately put on hiatus. '''2011–12: ''In January Following the renewal of his contract, Josh opted to release his second album in Spring 2012. He began primary recording for this album on 8 December 2011. He stated later that month that his second album would be more "mellow" than ''Symphony, and that he was hoping to put more time and effort into the album than he did with his debut effort. Banana stated that the album would be rock-influenced. Kingston launched Indigo Records on 1 January 2012. Indigo is licensed as a subsidiary of Banana Music, however was wholly-operated and owned by Kingston. Kingston signed a 3-year deal with Banana Music, that gave Banana exclusive distribution rights for all Indigo Records content through 2015. On 13 January, Kingston announced that his second album, In January, would be released on 2 May. Kingston had initially contemplated naming the album Home. The lead single from the album, "Stronger" was released on 14 February, followed by its second single "Chasing Cars", which was released on 30 March. In January was released two weeks earlier than initially planned on 20 April. The album contained 12 tracks along with 3 bonus tracks. In April, Kingston was asked by Banana Music to record new songs for a deluxe edition of the album. On 1 June, a new song entitled "Wide Awake" was released as the lead single from the album's deluxe edition. "Set Fire to the Rain" was released as the third single from In January and the fourth overall single from the In January era on 20 June. The album's deluxe edition, entitled'' In January: Four Seasons'', was released on 26 June and contained 6 new songs. On 1 August, a SendSpace exclusive version of the album was released under the title In January: Download Release, which contained 1 new song entitled "Eyes Open", which won an SMA Music Award for Best Original Song. "Part of Me" was released as Four Seasons' second and final single on 27 August. On 17 September, a new song entitled "I Won't Give Up" was released as the lead single from'' In January: The Complete Collection''; the final re-release/deluxe edition of In January. On 11 October, "In January" was released as the fourth and final single from the original edition of In January. "Fix You" was released on 10 November as the second and final single from The Complete Collection, and as the ninth and final overall single from the'' In January'' era. The Complete Collection was released on 11 November, officially ending the In January ''era. '2012–present: Up in Flames ' In March 2012, Kingston confirmed that he would create a third album. Initially planning to have his third album consist of entirely original music, he later cancelled these plans, deciding to have the album consist of mainly covers. He began writing original songs later that month, which he intended to include on his third album. Throughout 2012, he referred to his third album in secret under the working title of ''Suns & Storms. Recording for his third album had been planned to begin in September, however he delayed recording in order to promote In January: The Complete Collection. He announced in November that the album would be produced by himself, instead of by Nick Roads, who produced Symphony and In January. Recording for his third album began on 1 January 2013; two days later than planned. Kingston spent the majority of the next two months recording the album and planning out how the album and its singles would be released and promoted. He stated that he planned to have recording finished by 12 May, however that this deadline would be extended if he needed more time. In February, Banana Recordz Countdown returned, however Kingston did not return as the podcast's host. In a highly promoted and anticipated press release on 3 March 2013, Kingston announced that his third album, Up in Flames, would be released in June, and he released the album's lead single "Charlie Brown". Later that month, he began a 3-week recording hiatus in order to promote the album. On 2 April, "I Need Your Love" was released as the album's first promotional single. On 8 April, Kingston guest-hosted Banana Recordz Countdown, where he announced that Up in Flames would be released on 23 June, however this date was later postponed to 28 June. The album's second official single "Madness" was released on 19 April, followed by its third single "Get Lucky", which was released on 6 June as the final pre-album release single. The fourth single "Strawberry Swing" will be released on 21 July. 'Future projects' Kingston announced on 17 June 2013 that he was working on his fourth album. Later that month, he stated that the album would consist primarily of original music while containing some covers and samples. Nick Roads, founder of Banana Music, stated "He's been researching for the album and gathering up inspiration and samples for the past few months. I know he has at least five or six songs written and he's been listening to Channel Orange and Indicud repeatedly and he's been watching a lot of Alfred Hitchcock movies. What he's trying to do is take genres from unique modern music genres and inject that tone into the mood of neo-noir and horror films to sort of give people an idea on what it would be like if an old movie had a soundtrack that was produced in modern times. From this, he's invented an incredibly unique sound, almost like a genre all on its own". Kingston plans to release the album independently as a mixtape about a month before before releasing it as an album through Banana Music. Other work 'Writing' In April 2012, Banana Music and Banana Television announced a joint venture entitled Spark, which would be a YouTube channel dedicated to stories. Spark announced an October 2012 launch, with a horror anthology podcast entitled Darkest Days, written and voiced by Kingston, planned to be Spark's first program. However, the project was later put on hold in order to give Spark a proper launch. Kingston stated in March 2013 that he had been writing anthologies to include in Darkest Days ''for nearly a year, estimating that he had about ten stories finished, and that he would begin recording the podcast once he was finished ''Up in Flames. He stated he was working closely with television producer and friend Matthew LaVernon to decide to the style of the podcast. On 5 May 2013, Spark announced that Darkest Days would premiere on 3 October 2013. Spark is scheduled to launch on the same day. ''In the Note Banana Audio, a subsidiary of Banana Music Group, was launched on 17 June 2013. Upon its launch, it was announced that Josh Kingston was attatched to host a documentary audio series entitled In the Note'' that would focus on a new topic each episode. The series is planned to premiere in early 2014. Artistry and personal life 'Influences and voice' Kingston has consistently referred to as English rock band Coldplay and American rock band OneRepublic as his main influences, and has cited alternative rock as his favourite and most influential music genre. He named his third album Up in Flames which is a song on Coldplay's album Mylo Xyloto (2011). He has stated that Canadian band Marianas Trench is his main influence to include the pop rock and indie genre in his albums. More recently, he has listed Bruno Mars, Florence + the Machine, The Neighbourhood, Lana Del Rey, The Maine, Frank Ocean, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, The Weeknd, and Drake as influences. Kingston's albums consistently have major alternative rock, pop rock, indie rock, indie pop, and pop influences, however many of his songs utilize genres such as R&B and chamber pop. Kingston's voice has been praised for its mellow and relaxing undertones, however has been criticized for not working with many pop songs, with most critics noting that his voice works better with indie songs. Kingston has acknowledged this, saying, "I know that there are genres I should do and genres I shouldn't do, just as there are with any artist, but I enjoy experimenting with other types of music and I wouldn't consider indie to be my most influential genre". 'Religion and health' Kingston has stated he is agnostic and does not believe in any specific religion, however has stated "I would hope that some type of physical or spiritual force is helping us and guiding us along". He has stated most of his family members are Christian but lack major religious beliefs, and that he has never attended or "even been inside of" a church or any other religious establishment. Kingston was formally a vegetarian, however now eats meat due to chronic low blood pressure. Due to his hypotension, Kingston often faints and he takes medication for this. Discography 'Studio albums' *''Symphony'' (2011) *''In January (2012) *''Up in Flames (2013) Compilation albums and extended plays |- ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;"|Title ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;"|Album details ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;"|Certification |- |''In January: Four Seasons'' | **Released: 26 June 2012 **Label: Banana, Indigo, Catalyst **Format: Download, online streaming **Type: Compilation album |BRCS: Gold |- |''In January: Download Release'' | **Released: 1 August 2012 **Label: Banana, Indigo, Catalyst **Format: Download, online streaming **Type: Compilation album |BRCS: Bronze |- |''In January: The Complete Collection'' | **Released: 11 November 2012 **Label: Banana, Indigo, Catalyst **Format: Download, online streaming **Type: Compilation album |BRCS: Gold |}